Feedback: Vigilantism is no solution to Detroit's crime problem

Aug. 17, 2013

Last Sunday’s Free Press told of vigilantes beating a man accused of raping a 15-year-old girl with Down syndrome. The police delayed action while they waited for rape kit test results. It took 19 days for the rape kit to go from the Detroit Police Department to the lab in Lansing. Readers were quick to weigh in:

Yeah, I’m sure that people who would beat someone almost to death in the streets care about things like facts and evidence.

John Zimmer

Via Freep.com

The continued incompetence of the Detroit Police Department to perform the basic measures of crime investigation alarms and infuriates me. In the southwest Detroit case, the victim identified the suspect and the apartment where she said an attack took place.

According to the reports, the suspect is well-known in the community. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to solve this case. Rather, you just have to do the basics: get search warrants expeditiously, collect the evidence and have the evidence appropriately analyzed.

I certainly do not support the so-called street justice that reportedly was inflicted on the suspect. But I do understand the frustration of the community at the pace and thoroughness of the DPD investigation.

I have absolute confidence in the ability of Chief James Craig to right the foundering DPD ship. I know that he brings a needed sense of urgency to his position. I hope this sense of urgency results in action by DPD investigators and officers.

Thomas E. Page

Los Angeles Police Department, retired

Detroit

Vigilante justice is never an answer. But the state and Detroit police must expect more of this as long as they continue doing such a pitiful job with handling crimes like this one.

Damion Parson

Via Freep.com

I’d like to trace what happened to that kit. Whose desk was it sitting on? How many rape kits did that person have to handle during that period? What was that person doing hour by hour for 19 days instead of getting the kit sent to Lansing? Was there one or several people who could or should have sent the kit to Lansing? Does he, she or they have a supervisor? What does that supervisor do each day? How is the delivery done? How long does it take to put a kit in a FedEx package and call for a pick up? Is there someone on a police officer’s salary whose job is driving tests to Lansing? What was that person doing for 19 days?

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Sure, this neglect happens in private industry, but when it does, someone who cares for his own hide gets the answers to these questions and makes changes.

Edward Kickham

Royal Oak

On one hand, it’s scary seeing mob justice in action. There are no checks or balances; if the mob decides you’re guilty, then you’re in a heap of trouble. But, when the police and the justice system fail the people of a city, what other choice do they have? Mob justice or no justice? We can’t let criminals like this go free.

It’s interesting to see that people still care enough about their neighbors and their neighborhood to actually get involved and look out for each other. Perhaps we’re reaching a turning point, where apathy and a “look the other way” mentality are being replaced with a sense of community.

As community ties become stronger, it’s possible that they can be used to prevent horrible crimes like this before they even happen, rather than taking action once the damage has been done.

Aaron Wallace

Via Freep.com

The citizens have been told by local government to clean their parks, pick up their trash, plow their streets, cut the grass at the vacant homes and parks, even set up “citizens patrols,” i.e., become the police. This is the next step in that evolutionary chain.

The surprise is that there are not more cases like this as more citizens get fed up with local government and being asked to police their own neighborhoods.

Oliver Cole

Via Freep.com

If we could get all citizens to get mad and take matters into their own hands, we could take back our towns and cities and run the criminals out.